Trac proudly powers the recruitment for
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Trust

About
We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby.
From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care —our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for.
We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help. In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health.
We’re committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it.
We won’t rest until everyone in our region has the mental health care they need, to lead their best possible life.
Contact
- Address
- Trust Headquarters
- West Park Hospital
- Edward Pease Way
- Darlington
- County Durham
- DL2 2TS
- Contact Number
- 01325 552000
Principal Applied Psychologist
Accepting applications until: 09-Sep-2025 23:59
Vacancy status: Open
Accepting applications until: 09-Sep-2025 23:59
Key details
Location
- Site
- 0.4FTE Harrogate, 0.2FTE York,Some slight variation in hours at each base may be possible.
- Address
- Systems House, York or Alexander House, Knaresborough
- Town
- York, Knaresborough
- Postcode
- YO30 4XT
Contract type & working pattern
- Contract
- Permanent
- Hours
- Full time
- Part time
- Job share
Salary
- Salary
- £62,215 - £72,293 pro rata per annum
- Salary period
- Yearly
- Grade
- (NHS AfC: Band 8b)
Specialty
- Main area
- Psychology
We are the Mental Health & Learning Disability NHS Trust for County Durham and Darlington, Teesside, North Yorkshire, York and Selby.
From education and prevention, to crisis and specialist care —our talented and compassionate teams work in partnership with our patients, communities and partners to help the people of our region feel safe, understood, believed in and cared for.
We nurture the recovery journey of anyone in need of our help. In Our Trust, everyone has a say in how they are supported and treated because we listen to every person in our care until they feel understood. Our patients, their families and carers work together with us towards better mental health.
We’re committed to new thinking that improves the wellbeing of our region. We connect with our communities and partners to get mental health care right, in areas that really need it.
We won’t rest until everyone in our region has the mental health care they need, to lead their best possible life.
Job overview
The Adult Learning Disability service in the North Yorkshire, York and Selby (NYYS) care group are looking to increase the senior psychology leadership offer across the locality to work as part of our multi-disciplinary teams.
We have 0.6FTE (22.5hrs) of 8b Principal Applied Psychologist time available. The base for these hours is across the teams in our locality as follows:
0.4FTE (15hrs) in Harrogate
0.2FTE (7.5hrs) in York
*Some slight variation in hours at each base may be possible.
We would ask that candidates include on their applications an expression of interest in one or more base, stating the total hours they’d be interested to work and the bases they would be interested to work at- i.e. I’d be interested to work 0.9FTE in total across York and Harrogate localities, or I’d be interested to work 0.5FTE in Scarborough etc.
These newly created posts offer an exciting opportunity for an experienced applied psychologist to work with the Psychological Professions Lead to continue to develop and improve psychological services across the NYYS locality for people with learning disabilities.
Advert
The successful candidates will hold a complex clinical caseload offering direct and indirect therapeutic support to people with learning disabilities, their families, carers and staff teams. They will contribute to the collective clinical leadership of one or more multidisciplinary team across the locality ensuring high quality and well governed intervention and services. The duties will include provision of highly specialist consultation, reflection, formulation, training, supervision and promotion of psychological thinking and staff wellbeing.
Another key part of the successful candidates' roles will be to lead the development of one or more governed psychological therapy across the locality, including the provision of highly specialist case consultation / specialist clinics and leading the training and development of psychologists and other MDT professionals in the locality.
In addition, the successful candidates will also offer clinical supervision and development support to band 7-8a psychologists, trainees and assistant psychology colleagues; contributing to the professional leadership of the psychological professions and lead an area of service development and improvement.
Working for our organisation
We provide excellent opportunities for peer support/supervision, CPD, teaching/training, research and audit in line with strategic developments. There are also strong links to the local Hull, Leeds and Teesside Clinical Psychology Doctorate Programmes as we are key providers of academic and clinical experience components both in terms of teaching and clinical/ research supervision
This post is 0.6FTE. We are happy to discuss flexible working. The post will require working in base as standard, with limited options to work from home.
We are very keen to support practitioners to obtain further professional training with relevance to the service (e.g., CBT, PBS, Systemic Family Therapy, etc). Our trust is also invested in staff wellbeing opportunities, which is very much supported by the service.
You will be working in an area of natural beauty across the North Yorkshire coast and North York Moors.
Detailed job description and main responsibilities
Applicants should have significant experience working in Learning Disability services and show a passion for working in this clinical speciality. The successful applicants will be enthusiastic, motivated, and demonstrate a commitment to delivering safe and high-quality health care and excellence in evidence-based practice. They will be working alongside a supportive leadership team where opportunities to develop special interests and co-work will be encouraged.
Psychological Professions staff will be expected to display the Trust values at all times, working as part of the collective leadership team with shared accountability and responsibility for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of patient care is delivered in a patient centred manner. They will also contribute to ensuring the culture of our services is built upon the Trust Values and the trust's strategy - Our Journey To change (OJTC).
We utilise the NHS Leadership Academy framework and this will form part of your interview and selection process. Please review the attached document for guidance in your application process.
Please refer to the attached job description and person specification for further detailed information to ensure that you meet the role criteria before applying.
Right to Work in the UK
Applications from job seekers who require sponsorship to work in the United Kingdom (UK) are welcome and will be considered alongside all other applications. Please note that from January 2021, to work in the UK all candidates who are not UK or Republic of Ireland (RoI) nationals require sponsorship unless you have permission to work via another route. Non UK / RoI candidates wishing to apply can self-assess the likelihood of obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship here Browse: Work in the UK - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).
Please provide full and accurate details of your current immigration status on the application form. Overseas applicants applying for entry clearance into the UK must present a criminal record certificate from each country they have resided in continuously or cumulatively for 12 months or more in the past 10 years. Guidance can be found here Criminal records checks for overseas applicants - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). Your current immigration status will not be considered as part of the shortlisting or interview process.
Please note that not everyone needs a ‘Skilled Worker’ visa. If you are applying for a vacancy in health or adult social care, you may be eligible to apply for the Health and Care Worker visa instead, subject to role meeting the required conditions.
We are able to offer sponsorship for a Health and Care Worker or Skilled Worker visa, subject to candidate and position eligibility. Please review the job eligibility guidance for skilled workers here: Skilled Worker visa: Your job - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and for the Health and Care Worker visa here: Skilled Worker visa: eligible healthcare and education jobs - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
Please note: if the job you are applying for does not meet the eligibility criteria above, we will be unable to offer you sponsorship and you will need to explore whether you may be eligible to apply for an alternative immigration route which will secure your Right to Work in the UK before you apply. If you are in the UK already on a visa, please ensure you have no restrictions that would prevent you from taking this post.
AI in Recruitment
We are aware that Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology is increasingly being used to generate responses for application forms. Applications for this role should be written by the applicant and if, during shortlisting, a Recruiting Manager believes AI has been used then the application may be rejected due to this document being an important part of the assessment process. This does not prevent applicants seeking appropriate support with applications should they need to for the purposes of any declared disability.
Fixed Term Posts
If the contract type on the vacancy states 'Fixed Term' this would mean the vacancy is being advertised to address a temporary need for the duration stipulated on the advert, however, in the event that permanent funding is secured for the post the successful applicant will be confirmed in post on a permanent basis.
Internal applicants must ensure that prior to applying they have agreement from their current line manager that they can be released on a secondment basis.
Support with applications
We have computers facilities available in our libraries (Durham, Middlesbrough, and Darlington) to support applicants. If you would like to access to a laptop for your application, please contact the library team to arrange a time to visit, please email: [email protected] . We will always endeavour to make this available however we cannot guarantee that we will be able accommodate this before the vacancy closes.
Trust Welcome Day
Here at Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys Foundation NHS Trust, we want you to have a positive experience when you start your new role with us. To ensure you have great welcome, for all new starters joining the Trust, we offer two start dates per month on the 1st and 3rd Mondays of that month.
On your start date, you will be invited to our in person Trust Welcome Day at our Flatts Lane Centre, Middlesbrough. Your first day will be engaging and informative, it will allow you to meet and network with a range of Trust staff, learn more about us and what we offer. For certain clinical roles, your Welcome Day may then be followed up with additional mandatory/statutory clinical training.
Applying for this post
We are an equal opportunities employer and welcome applications from individuals who have experience of mental ill health or learning disabilities. Our service users and carers tell us our staff should be consistently concerned with maintaining and improving care with pride, empathy and compassion.
This job advert may close as soon as sufficient suitable applications have been received. If interested please apply for this post as soon as possible.
In order for your application to be successfully processed we will require references from your current and previous employer(s) which must cover a minimum period of three years. Please ensure that the reference section of your application is completed appropriately giving the address, telephone number and work email address of each of your current and previous line manager(s). If this section is not fully completed your application may not be processed.
If your application is successful, the information you give on your application form will be used to create and be retained on your electronic staff record and to provide access to core Trust systems.
Please note that if the post you are applying for requires a DBS check, you will be required to also subscribe to the DBS Update Service, if successful, and thereafter renew your subscription each year. The Trust will reimburse the subscription fee.
After applying via the NHS Jobs link, you will be taken to our preferred Third party recruitment system so submit your application. All subsequent information regarding your application will be generated from apps.trac.jobs. You will not be able to track the progress of your application or receive messages through the NHS Jobs website, and furthermore, that as an employer, we will not be able to respond to any e-mails sent to us via the NHS Jobs website.
By applying for this post you are agreeing to Tees Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust transferring the information contained in this application to its preferred applicant management system. If you are offered a job, information will also be transferred into the national NHS Electronic Staff Records system.
Candidates who are shortlisted for interview will be contacted by e-mail. You should check your SPAM folders as well as your inbox. If you have not been contacted within 4 weeks of the closing date you should assume your application has been unsuccessful.
Additional Information
Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust is committed to the protection of staff, service users and visitors to the Trust from second hand smoke and currently operates a no smoking policy which ensures all buildings and grounds are smoke free.
Applicant requirements
Person specification
qualifications
Essential criteria
- Post-graduate training (doctoral level equivalent) in clinical/counselling psychology (or its equivalent prior to 1996) as accredited by the BPS
- HCPC registration as a Practitioner Psychologist
- Post-doctoral training in one or more additional specialised areas of psychological practice
- Trained in clinical supervision and the supervision of doctoral trainees
- Trained in care co-ordination
- Evidence of continuing professional development
Desirable criteria
- Registration with BPS
Experience
Essential criteria
- Must have substantial experience of: Working as a qualified applied psychologist within the designated service including a full range of clinical severity
- Exercising full clinical responsibility for clients' psychological care within a multidisciplinary team
- Must have experience of providing clinical and professional leadership to other qualified and non-qualified members of the profession
- Significant community or inpatient experience in a learning disability setting
Desirable criteria
- Liaison and joint working with statutory, voluntary and private sector agencies
knowladge
Essential criteria
- Doctoral level knowledge of evidence- based practice relevant to the role
- Risk assessment and risk management
- Knowledge of legislation in relation to the client group
Further details / informal visits contact
- Name
- Dr Helen Ellis-Caird
- Job title
- Consultant Clinical Psychologist
- Email address
- [email protected]
- Telephone number
- 01723 580940
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